


It's Complicated

by fightingdreamr



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Love Confessions, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 22:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3095627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fightingdreamr/pseuds/fightingdreamr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reason the Inquisitor has for not being able to sleep catches Varric off-guard.</p><p>(Cole, Solas, Merrill, Cassandra, and Iron Bull mentioned only. Mild language)</p><p>(Works as a sort of prequel for my next Cole/Inquisitor fic "Let Me Help")</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Complicated

Though relaxing, the sound of the waves against the shore was hardly comforting to the Inquisitor as she sat near a rocky ledge and contemplated her predicament. The moon was full and illuminated the coast, but that wasn’t the reason she was having trouble sleeping. 

A rustling at the campsite behind her caught her attention, and she looked back to discover Varric making his way out of the tents and eventually over to where she had been sitting. “Can’t sleep?” He asked as he unwrapped a pipe and sat next to her on a small boulder. “What is it- the anchor acting up? Trying to figure out how the whole world has gone to hell in a handbasket?”

The inquisitor let out a monosyllabic, mirthless laugh before responding. “No- I’d be much more at peace if I were preoccupied with something rational… As strange as listing ‘a giant hole in the sky’ among rational fears is…”

Varric chuckled and began to pack the pipe he’d unwrapped. “Varric- I didn’t know you smoked.” The Inquisitor said, hoping to shift the attention away from her own restlessness.

“Not often.” He explained as he fumbled with the flint, “It’s just an Elven trick Daisy taught me for insomnia. Calms the body and mind, so to speak.”

“I haven’t heard you mention a ‘Daisy’ before- one of your Kirkwall friends?” The Inquisitor asked. 

Varric nodded ‘yes’ as he inhaled and held the smoke in his mouth. A moment later he exhaled slowly and deliberately, the cloud of smoke trying desperately to take shape despite the calm, salty breeze.

“Damn. I can never get it to make the ring like she could…” He narrated with a slight frown. “So what is it then?” He asked, motioning to the Inquisitor with an outstretched pipe before he brought it back to his lips.

“What is what?” She replied, feigning ignorance as he took another puff.

He attempted to make a smoke ring again without success before looking back at her. “Don’t give me that. What’s bothering you?”

She let out a heavy sigh. “It’s… complicated.”

“Riiight. It’s ‘complicated,’ but it’s _not_ the hole in the sky or the ancient magister darkspawn trying to kill us all.”

“Ugh.” She grunted at the revelation that he wasn’t going to let it go.

“It’s… Cole.” She admitted.

He chuckled a bit. “What’s the kid gotten himself into this time? Cassandra trying to pretend she still has claim to righteous indignation even after eating the cakes he stole for her out of the larder?” He asked as he poked at the contents of his pipe before lighting it again.

“Oh, no- he’s not causing trouble. I…” She groaned, not exactly wanting to admit anything further but at the same time dying to confide in someone, “I think… I think I might… Shit.”

Varric coughed, mid-inhale, causing the Elven herb to explode out the end of his pipe and go flying. The Inquisitor cupped her face in her hands as Varric tried to regain control over his coughing fit. She could feel her face getting hot as a blush spread across her cheeks.

“Ho-oh-oh-ly shit.” He exclaimed through short bursts of laughter. “The Herald of Andraste” He waved in the air with one hand as he said her title, “Has a secret fetish for spirits.”

The inquisitor groaned as he took delight in her admission. “Aw- don’t say it like _that!_ ,” She begged him, bringing her face out of her hands, “You make me sound like one of those slightly-passed-their-prime Orlesian dowagers with one too many elf boy servants in their 20’s…”

She groaned again. “I just… He’s so sweet, and unintentionally funny- which makes him so charming… I can’t help it.” 

Varric just looked at her, one brow raised, as though he were dumbfounded by her confession.

“Shit.” She muttered and looked back to the Storm Coast, completely embarrassed.

Varric began to pack his pipe again, giggling softly, as though he were elated by the inquisitor’s seedy secret. “Can you _imagine_ if Chuckles found out…” He teased her.

“Oh, Maker! Please don’t tell him! Solas _can’t_ know!”

He laughed a bit more before imitating the serious fade expert giving her a stern lecture. She cupped her face in her hands again and grunted. “I know… I know…” She agreed, regretting her decision to come clean.

He took another puff and slapped her on the back a bit. “I wouldn’t worry about it. I doubt the kid’ll pick up on it anyway.”

She sighed and looked back over the water, watching the steady waves break against the rocky coast below. “Yeah, that was my first reaction, but then I remembered this one, tiny, pesky detail that puts a kink in my ‘just keep quiet’ plan: _He can literally read people’s minds, Varric!_ Shit- what am I going to do?”

“Why not go for it?” He asked her with a shrug. “If he’s gonna find out anyway.” He laughed, “Knocking boots could be good for the kid.”

Her face burned crimson as the blush which had subsided came rushing back over her cheeks. “Knocking boots?? He’s not just some awkward virgin, Varric! He’s not even human! I mean- I couldn’t! Doesn’t that just seem, _wrong?_ ” 

“Look- the kid’s got a human body. I’m assuming he’s got all the parts that go along with that too. Why not show him a little kindness? He’s so preoccupied with helping others I doubt he’s ever really been helped much himself.”

She sighed, “You… you really think it’s okay?”

He took a long puff and shrugged as he exhaled. “Sure, why not? Though if you’ve got any dormant father issues you might spend the night writing letters and rethinking your life choices like that prostitute Bull bought for him back in Crestwood.”

She couldn’t tell if he were joking or not. “You’re kidding.” She announced, demand for an explanation heavily implied in her tone.

Varric laughed. “I shit you not. ‘Five Royals _well spent_ ,’ was how he put it when the kid told him about their night.”

“See- this is what I mean!” She exclaimed, exasperated, “I can’t do this. I can’t corrupt him…”

Varric took another puff, inhaling the last bit his pipe would offer before attempting to make a smoke ring again. “Well, if you really feel that way you _could_ ask him to make you forget like he did with that Templar in Redcliffe.”

She furrowed her brows. She hadn’t thought about that. “Erase my feelings for him? Erase my memory?”

“He’s probably already done it. You know I once watched him try eleven different times to get it right on that redhead serving girl back at Skyhold.”

She mulled it over for a moment. “That’s… actually not a bad idea.”

He wrapped his pipe back up and stood, “That’s me- ‘the idea man,’” he said with a slight bow before turning to make his way back to camp.

“Varric- please don’t tell anyone.” The inquisitor begged as he took a step toward camp. 

“Our little secret.” The dwarf assured her as he walked away.


End file.
